With A Little Help From My Friends
by Ilse'sPurpleSummer
Summary: The Viper and Shane have feelings for each other, but are too scared to say it. Friendships and careers are on the line, and they could risk it all for love. Randy/Shane, Cody/Teddy, hints of Shawn/Bret, Chris/Matt, HHH/Steph, and E&C.


Ok. Like it says on my profile, my Shane muse has apparently been sending me subliminal messages via dreaming that since he was a 26 year old virgin in "Waiting For You", he wants more action. So I've decided to try and put some of the images I've dreamed into words and give him that.

Disclaimer: I don't own WWE, blah blah blah. If I did... I won't even get started on that or I'll be here all night.

First: Randy Orton

Shane had seen Randy Orton before, but the first time he really took notice of the mighty Viper was during his family's feud with Legacy. He objectively admired those tanned, tattooed arms of his, that taut stomach, those blue eyes, so cold in the ring, but so warm out of it. He seemed to genuinely want to make their feud as epic as possible. Hunter had spoken very highly of him while they were in Evolution together, saying that he was cocky, yes, but had nearly unlimited potential. This kid was going to be a world champion someday, he'd said. "Maybe even bigger than me," he'd joked. At the time, Shane had been more in the back round of things, then had decided to take some time off. So when he came back nearly 4 years later, he'd been surprised to see the cocky kid had morphed into a confident but respectful man.

The feud with Randy and Legacy had been his father's idea, a way to get Randy some heat for his feud with Cena. What better way than to mess with the top face, HHH himself? Get the rest of the McMahons involved, add dash of RKO and you had a winning hand. Shane and Stephanie both thought it was an awesome idea, so they went forward with it. However, this required Shane getting back into the ring after nearly two years. And against Randy Orton. Needless to say, he was a little nervous. Randy offered to work with him for a few weeks, to help him shake off the ring rust that was no doubt there. Unfortunately for Shane, this kind gesture brought about some... _interesting _feelings.

The first time he got into the ring with Randy, the grappled around for a while, and Shane found himself pressed up against the Legend Killer's perfect body more than once. And he found himself liking it more than he should. For one thing, Randy was almost ten years younger than him. For another, he was pretty certain Randy was fucking around with one or possibly both the Legacy boys. He knew he was no catch himself, but Cody and Ted were both beautiful in their own rights- Cody the dark night to Teddy's bright sunny looks. Shane's hair was graying, and although he was in better shape, having lost some weight and gained some muscle tone during his time away, he knew he could never be a Cody or a Ted or even a Matt Hardy in terms of physique. He didn't have Cody's defined hipbones or Ted's chiseled cheeks.

So he continued to work with Randy, ignoring the feelings that left him tossing and turning in his bed and waking up in a sweat with messy sheets. During the day, however, he was the picture of composure. He laughed and joked with Randy and Hunter and the Legacy boys, telling the younger boys stories about the "good old days" when he and his sister ruled WCW and he got knocked around the ring on a daily basis. Cody and Ted shared stories about OVW and FCW, and in time he had developed a mentor-mentee relationship with the two youngsters. It was nothing more than that. Once he got to know Legacy a little better, he realized that Ted and Cody were hopelessly devoted to each other, and Randy wasn't involved with either of them.

Shane was spotting Cody in the gym one day when Randy walked in and began running on the treadmill, his headphones blasting some sort of energy rock. He spotted Cody smirking and he frowned.

"Why are you smiling like that?" he said. Cody snorted as he finished his last rep. He sat up and spun around so he could see Shane.

"Randy has a crush," he sang gently. Shane sighed to himself. He knew it. He knew he wasn't good enough to catch the eye of the Viper.

"Who is it?" he asked, curiosity overwhelming him. Cody grinned.

"Well, it's this older guy," Cody said, and Shane's mind immediately shot to Dave Batista, Randy's former Evolution partner. He clenched his fists, then made himself pay attention to Cody.

"But he's kind of... unattainable," he was saying. "Randy thinks he's really good-looking, smart, and funny. He just met him, but-"

"Cody," Randy's voice rang out behind him. Cody and Shane whipped around to see him standing right behind him. Cody's face turned a bright, flaming red and he darted out of the gym like the floor was on fire. Randy sighed.

"I'm sorry, he tends to run his mouth a lot," he said. Shane shook his head, grinning.

"It's fine, Randy, he doesn't bother me at all. I kinda like having him around," he said honestly.

"I do appreciate you training with him and Ted," Randy said. "I think they really look up to you." He smiled his million dollar smile at Shane and left, leaving Shane's head spinning but his heart hurting. He'd been right all along, Randy did have feelings for someone who wasn't him.

After the whole Legacy vs McMahon storyline burned out, Shane decided to stick around for a while and help Steph with the creative aspect of the sport. But really, he knew he was sticking around for Randy. He knew he was a masochist, but he also wanted to stick around for Ted and Cody as well. And truth be told, he loved being back in the center of the business. Creating storylines was something he'd always enjoyed doing. He loved to hear what the guys had to input too- he'd built the entire "Ministry of Darkness" story with Mark, and he considered it some of his finest work. And from what he could see, Steph needed all the help she could get. He loved his sister with all his heart, but she wasn't the sharpest toll in the shed when it came to wrestlers. Shane knew he wasn't really one himself, but he knew how hard these guys worked. All they wanted was to be rewarded for putting their bodies on the line time after time. And he could give them that. After a while he gave Cody and Ted a face turn, pitting them against the Miz and John Morrison, creating an epic feud where the Miz and Morrison hung on to the belts for two months until Cody and Ted finally triumphed. And okay, maybe he did it because Ted and Cody were his boys. But they did work hard too.

In time, he had carved out a schedule, which included working with the creative team, spending time with his family, and hanging out with Ted and Cody. Then there was Randy.

He and Randy had become friends during the feud, and they started hanging out more and more, going out to dinner, laughing and talking, spending time together. Shane knew he was falling in love with Randy, but he also knew there was no use fighting it. For all his cold demeanor in the ring, he was a kind-spirited guy, easygoing and fun to hang out with. Shane couldn't help but wonder about the older guy Randy had a crush on. His money was still on Dave Batista (who was a scumbag if he ever saw one). He would've thought maybe Adam, if Adam hadn't been so hopelessly devoted to Jay. Hunter was still madly in love with his sister, Shawn and Bret were still happy as clams, and Shane had his suspicions about Matt Hardy and Chris Jericho. So in his mind, Batista was the only option.

He made sure not to reveal his feelings to anyone. So imagine his surprise when Teddy, wise, young, Teddy, came up to him after a Smackdown taping and said,

"I know you're in love with Randy." Shane didn't bother to deny it. Teddy was a lot smarter than people gave him credit for. "You should tell him."

"Tell him?" Shane exclaimed. "Teddy, no, are you nuts?" Ted laughed.

"Maybe," he said, his cerulean eyes twinkling. "But I still think you should tell him." Shane ran his hands over his face.

"Fine," he muttered. Ted cupped his hand around his ear.

"I didn't hear you, Shane," he said, a smirk in his voice. Shane glared at him.

"I said FINE," he said louder. Teddy grinned and Shane groaned.

He and Randy had plans that night, so Shane started psyching himself up to tell Randy everything. By the time he met Randy at the pool hall (Ted and Cody were meeting them later) he was nervous as hell. The odd thing was that Randy seemed nervous as well. He wondered if somehow Randy could sense he was about to tell him something huge. They were sitting in the corner waiting for Cody and Ted when Randy turned to him.

"Listen, Shane, we're friends, right" he asked. Shane shot him a confused look.

"Yeah, of course," he said.

"And nothing I say can change that?" Randy continued. Shane was getting more confused by the minute.

"Of course not," he said. Randy took a deep breath.

"Shane, I like you," he stated. "I really like you. I think I'm falling in love with you. It's been a while now, since our feud, and I was too scared to tell you, but Cody convinced me that tonight was the night, and-"

"Wait," Shane interrupted. "_Cody _told you to tell me?"

"Yeah," Randy said. "Why?" Shane burst out laughing. He couldn't believe that Ted and Cody had pulled this on them. "Shane? What's so funny?" Randy pressed. Shane calmed himself.

"Teddy came up to me after the tapings and told me that today should be the day I tell you how I feel about you," he explained. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say they planned this." Randy shook his head.

"I'm gonna wring their necks," he muttered. Then what Shane had said sunk in. "Wait, how you feel about me?" he asked. "How do you feel about me?" Shane's cheeks flushed.

"I think... I may be falling in love with you too." Randy smiled and leaned over.

When Ted and Cody arrived, they glanced around for a moment before Ted nudged Cody in the side and pointed in the corner, where they could see Randy and Shane kissing like there was no tomorrow. Cody grinned, wrapping his arm around Ted's waist.

"I told you we were genuises," he said smugly. Teddy laughed and kissed his lovers smiling lips.

"Yeah, yeah, you're brilliant," he said. "It looks like those two might be busy for a while..." Cody took the hint and squeezed Teddy's waist.

"Let's go," he said, and Teddy led him back out and to their hotel room to celebrate their victory.

A/N: Surprisingly, I decided to opt out of sex for this one. I know that 9 times out of 10 Randy demands sex, but I wasn't really feeling it for this story. Sorry Shane :)


End file.
